Love of Nightfall
by rokusasu74
Summary: It's tough being a vampire. Akyra would know...her parents abandoned her, blinded by hate. She meets a boy named Sora who takes her in, and the two soon learn that they both have troubled lives. But can she keep him safe when their worlds begin to collide
1. Hit by Destiny

_Love of Nightfall  
_by rokusasu74  
Rated T for violence, language, and fluffly-luff-ness. Recommended for ages 14+

Note: This fanfic is written in first person from the point of view of Akyra, the heroine of our story. Also, this fanfic has references to the _Twilight_ series by Stephenie Meyer.

**Disclaimer: I do not own the **_**Twilight**_** series, KH, or anything relating to either of them...no matter how badly I wish I do..._but,_ I _do _own Akyra! **

* * *

I stared at the white wall directly ahead of me--unblinking, emotionless, silent. There was no movement in the room around me, no pin to drop and break the unending silence, and even as the world outside my window continued to thrive and function and exist, my world had ceased to. It had stopped spinning completely.

My name is Akyra. Welcome to my life.

You've probably heard once or twice that whole "life is like a roller coaster--it has its ups and downs" saying. My life is more like a roller coaster ­_car_ that was headed down a drop at fifty plus miles per hour, then the track fell out in front of it, and the car that is my life has been plummeting for some time now. Not to mention there's no sign of repair for the complete, whole roller coaster that was _once_ my life.

You see, I'm a vampire. That's right, damned eternally and everything. And you wonder why I spend every day of my life in this room, doing nothing.

As I let this thought flutter sarcastically through my mind for the millionth time in as many days, I made the effort to get up off of my bed and trudge into the hallway, on the second floor of my small house. I padded as quietly as I could down the stairs and towards the kitchen, trying to be sneaky about it. I'm not allowed downstairs. But I was hungry. Amazingly, I made it all the way there and managed to grab a few snacks from the fridge. Pretty confident that no one was home, I continued over to the living room and sat down on the big, soft couch, letting my body sink comfortably into the cushions as I munched away at the handful of cookies.

Eating cookies, for a vampire, is like eating dirt. They, like all "human food" have no taste whatsoever, and it feels like I'm choking on sandpaper every time I swallow. But there was no way in the world that I'd ever get the chance to do what it is vampires do, which, as you know, is to drink blood. Not that I want to. I've had a nasty craving for the past eight years of my fifteen-year-old life, and at first it was everything I could do not to jump at the nearest person and rip them to shreds. Which is why my parents took to confining me to my room, with the door securely locked; it was the only way of safety they had. Soon enough, I got past any bloodlust there was within me. I could completely control all cravings that I faced, and had taken to eating human food just for the heck of it. To make myself feel more real, or something.

Lifting up the remote, I flicked on the TV to catch a few minutes of my favorite show, which was also the only one that I had ever seen. It was some cliched comedy that has more reruns than new episodes, but it didn't matter to me in the least. I never laughed at it--there wasn't much I'd laugh at these days, if anything. But TV fascinated me; it was like another world inside my tiny, empty one. Most people say that about books. But I hate books, and people too, for that matter. Just like people hate me, like my parents hate me.

I heard the sound of the door opening over the artificial laugh track from the comedy on the TV. Quickly turning it off, I made a mad dash for the stairs, stuffing the cookies in my mouth and swallowing as I did. _Speak of the devil,_ I thought, bitterly snickering in my mind, _and the devil will appear._

"Akyra?" a voice shouted out. It wasn't the shout of someone who was merely wondering where I was; it was the shout of someone that _knew_ where I was and was ready to yell at me for it. In a desperate scramble for freedom, I managed to trip on one of the steps, and tumbled back down to the bottom, landing at my mother's feet.

There was silence. I looked up at her with a blank expression, barely even cringing as she glared down at me with such hatred that I wondered why she hadn't kicked me yet (vulnerable as I was), sitting on the floor mere inches from her high-heeled shoes.

"Akyra," she muttered, her detesting tone ripping holes through me, "get upstairs _right now_."

I didn't respond. And here the silent arguement began.

"Now," my mother repeated, stepping away from me. I couldn't tell if it was in fear or if she had actually considered kicking me and was giving herself more space to wind up. More power to her, either way. But I remained stoic, barely even breathing as I remained in place on the polished wooden floor. She sighed deeply, leaving only for a moment to place a few bags on the kitchen counter before she returned.

This time, with my father.

A small twinge of fear echoed somewhere inside me, but I ignored it, as I usually did. Though my father was more forceful when it came to dealing with my defiance, I never showed emotion towards either of them. It would give them the upper hand, and I couldn't afford to lose my small amount of authority.

"Listen to me, and listen carefully," he said suddenly, so loudly that I couldn't help but jump in surprise. "Go upstairs, or we'll start locking the door again."

This, sadly, was a deal I had reason to consider. Until recently, by bedroom door had been almost always locked from the outside, keeping me within its secure walls. My parents had eventually realized, over the years, that I had no intention of coming near them. Sharing the same feeling of distance, they took to leaving the door unlocked. Despite this, they were still against allowing me downstairs, even if they weren't home. Most likely, they had convinced people they had no daughter, and wanted no evidence of me visible to those outside our family (if you can call it that).

Mulling the proposition over in my head, I failed to notice my father move suddenly as I was trying to decide whether fighting to stay downstairs was worth being completely confined again. My lack of attention didn't come without punishment; I instantly was snapped back into reality as a hand swung at me, slapping me hard across the face and roughly knocking me into the railing of the stairs. I turned back to the two of them, standing a few feet away now, glaring as menacingly as I could. It worked; they continued stepping back.

"Fine then," I mumbled, watching them scramble back a few more inches in their surprise as I spoke. "I'll go upstairs. No problem."

"No problem..." I heard my mother whisper as I daintly made my way up the steps, paying no attention to the bleeding scratch mark on the side of my face. "Doesn't she realize she _is_ the problem?"

The sad thing was, I'd known that my entire life. They just didn't know I did.

* * *

My full name is Akyra Hikari. My first name is Japanese for "bright, clear, or ideal," and my last name is Japanese for "light". Put it all together, and I guess you get some phrase about a bright, perfect light, or something like that. Which, as you've probably assumed, is exactly what I am _not_.

I was born sometime in November--I can't remember when, exactly--fifteen years ago. As far as I know, I was my parents' first and only child, and they gave me my name for the sole reason that they thought I was perfect, right from the beginning. As all parents do, of course. They love their children. It was no different for me; I remember nothing but happiness in my days as a small child. I had friends, went to preschool and kindergarten, and all that childhood stuff. And then, right when I turned seven, everything changed drastically. My life started spiraling from good to bad, then bad to worse, and finally, it hit rock bottom (I'm still stuck down there as we speak).

It was all because of my stupid family. It was all their fault. If I had been in some other family, I would have lived a normal life. I would have continued going to school, made more friends, experienced new and exciting places and things...maybe, if I was fifteen in a different family, I might have a boyfriend right now. Sad thing is, I'm _not_ in a different family, and I haven't seen anyone other than my parents in the past eight years.

Right. As I was saying, the whole reason my life was ruined was because I was born into the Hikari family in the first place. You see, our family (my dad's side) has a curse set upon it--one more than a thousand years old, and one that hadn't affected a single person on my father's half of the family in all the thousand years it's existed. It had been dismissed from their minds and completely ignored for years and years, until it decided to crash land on my generation of the family. And lucky me, being the _only_ child of that generation (my parents are both only children, thus I have no cousins), I got the full-force of whatever damned curse decided to unleash itself upon me. At the age of seven, I was transformed into a vampire.

The story of the curse itself is a simple one. Long ago, the Hikari family had a rival family--the Kuroyue family (that means black moon). Both families were very small, but only one child lived among them. The head of the Kuroyue family had one son, a boy of seven. The twist on all of this is that the boy's father was very insistent on the existence of black magic, and was just as talkative about it. Several of the Hikari family members were upset and offended by his satanic claims, and, obviously, a riot broke out between the two families. The Kuroyue boy was accidentally killed in the brawl, and when the Hikaris proceeded to lose the fight, his father took the chance to avenge his son right then and there. He supposedly claimed that for as long as the Hikari family existed, one child from a random generation would, upon reaching the age of seven, be cursed as a creature of eternal night, being forced to suffer through death while still existing. The curse lay dormant for hundreds of years before reaching me, and then I became a vampire.

I remember it clearly, as if it were yesterday. The transformation was slow, but noticable. I became almost impossibly pale, and my long blonde hair turned to a dull brown. My shimmering blue eyes dulled to a milky gray; my teeth became strangely pointed. And there was that ever-existent feeling of being so cold it was almost unbearable.

Instantly, my parents shifted to denial. To them, I was obviously just very sick; the family curse couldn't have _possibly_ begun its course. As much as they tried to deny it, they couldn't. Thus, their anxiety and disappointment turned to hatred, and that hatred was exacted on me.

The first time I ever attacked them was really when it began. Before that, they tolerated me, at least. But that one time, when I could control myself no longer and went after them, all love they had for me was instantaneously lost. I was thrown into my room and locked in, and from then on I was never allowed downstairs--or out of my room--ever again. Their logic was that first of all, I obviously didn't need to be fed, and second, I had a bathroom connected to my bedroom, and in their perspective that was all I'd ever need. I needed more than that, but I was the only one who realized it. I was so lost and alone at that point that a little company would have done a lot of good, and I might be a different Akyra than the Akyra I am today. But what's past is past, and who I've become is who I am, and there's nothing that could ever change that.

* * *

I stood silently in front of my bathroom mirror, staring at my reflection emotionlessly. The mark on my face where my father had hit me was already gone--it had healed almost instantly, like every other injury I had ever sustained had. I even broke my arm, once, only to notice that it was as good as new mere minutes after the accident.

Picking up a hairbrush off of the counter, I lazily pulled it through my tangled hair, straigtening it to its full shoulder-length. I noticed as it spiked naturally at the ends, how my bangs seperated on their own into jagged ridges. The hairbrush went back on the counter as I grabbed my toothbrush and slathered some bubble-gum toothpaste onto the bristles, scrubbing my sharp, glistening teeth without even noticing that the bubble-gum flavor was completely non-existent. I did happen to notice that all my toothpaste was gone, and I sighed heavily as I stepped back into my room and made my way over to the closet. Usually, I don't bother making a big deal out of getting dressed. I don't go anywhere during the day, so what does it matter? But today was one of those days; I was out of something I continued to pretend I needed, so I was going to have to sneak out to get more.

Digging through some awkwardly piled stacks of clothes, I pulled out a pair of black cargo pants and a dark pink sweatshirt with black cuffs and trim, pulling them on before plopping onto my bed and tying up my black high-top sneakers. I'd bought them all myself, with my parents' money of course. They can be so unobservant.

My window was locked just as securely as my door, complete with a magnet attached to the window frame that prevented me from opening it even if I _could_ undo the outside lock. If the two magnets became seperated, an alarm went off. But this little setup had been easily taken care of. Years ago, I had destroyed the outside lock with a blowtorch I found in my basement (stupid father, leaving tools like that lying around), and had snuck a magnet identical to the others off of the fridge, preventing the alarm from sounding.

Thus, after I had gotten dressed, put on my shoes, and grabbed some money out of my dresser, I casually opened the window and stepped out onto the fire escape, climbing down two ladders before hopping onto the ground and starting down the sidewalk. As always, no one had noticed me leave.

A cool breeze rustled the leaves in the nearby trees, and on a hot day like today, most people would feel refreshed by it. But the temperature was uncomfortable to my eternally frigid skin; I pulled my hands into my sweatshirt sleeves and hunched my shoulders to keep the outside where it belonged--_out_. A couple kids, maybe eight years old, stared at me as I shuffled by the city park, wondering why I was wearing a sweatshirt and long pants in the middle of August. I ignored them like I ignore the rest of the world, and continued another block or two before reaching the supermarket and going inside.

I knew exactly where the toothpaste was; it was the third aisle over from the bakery. I always went in the side entrance closest to the bakery and got my toothpaste before filing into the nearest checkout line and paying with exact change--two dollars and fifty-six cents, including tax. The longest it ever took me to accomplish this was about ten minutes, mostly because the girl working the register that day ran out of single dollars and couldn't make change for the other customers.

I walked in the usual way and turned right, walking casually through the bakery over to the aisle where the toothpaste was. My favorite kind--the only kind I'd buy--was sold out. Disappointed, I silently vowed to come back another day to get some. It wouldn't kill me to sneak into the other bathroom and steal some toothpaste from my parents until then. I left the store immediately and stood out on the sidewalk, breathing in the fresh air--the warmth toasting my icy throat--and staring at the clear, blue sky. It had been a while since I'd last seen the sky as it really was, instead of through a window where it was tinted and seemed artificial.

Just as I was beginning to feel relaxed, for once, I noticed a silver car drive past. It looked strangely familiar--the size, the color, the license plate--and after a moment of confusion, I had the terrifying notion that the car I had just seen was my parents' car. Had they left the house since I had? Did they notice the open window? Had they seen me here as they drove past?

Standing on sudden haste, I dashed forward, trying to get to the other side of the road so I could start back towards my house. Being inhuman, I have incredible endurance and speed--running for miles, no matter the conditions, is effortless for me. So crossing the street and sprinting home would barely be any trouble at all. I'd most likely get there before the car, or at least I hoped.

I was probably halfway to the other side of the road when I heard screeching brakes. I barely even slowed my pace, even as something slammed into my side so hard it felt like the world had come crashing down on top of me. I flew a few yards before slamming into the pavement, and then I lay still. Every single inch of my body felt like it had been smashed into pieces several times over. I heard noise around me, people yelling things, but couldn't bring myself to open my eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I started at the voice, instantly regretting the movement as I groaned and flattened myself against the road again, unwilling to even breathe for fear of the pain.

"Can you hear me? Are you all right?"

"G-Go...away..." I managed to whisper, tilting my head in the general direction of where I thought the voice was coming from. I don't think whoever it was heard me, anyway.

"Can you open your eyes?"

"Maybe," I answered truthfully, not really sure either way. I tried to regroup myself, even though I felt extremely dazed and out of sorts. After a moment, I slowly lifted my eyelids and stared straight ahead of me. I saw people standing around me on all sides, staring down as if I was some alien life form that had never been seen before. The crowd was so thick, I could barely see the sky above me. It was like all access to the outside world had been blocked off, like I was in some dark room being watched by people who I didn't know nor cared to.

And up until now, I hadn't even noticed the boy sitting inches away from me, panting nervously.

I was acting just as nervous, obviously, because within seconds he stood up and started shooing the crowd away. "Get out of here, you're scaring the crap out of her! Back up, at least!" They obeyed, glaring at him warily. But the lack of the boy's precense made me even more insecure; I felt extremely exposed--and being a vampire and all, this was very unnerving. So many people, looking at me, _noticing_ me...I shuddered violently and rolled onto my side, somehow accomplishing the task of sitting up.

"Don't push yourself, stay still. You don't want to aggrivate anything you might have broken. You could have a concussion," the boy instructed, apparently trying to sound reassuring. I wasn't comforted by anything he said, however, when I remembered why I had been running across the street in the first place.

"The car..." I said to myself, so quietly that I was sure the boy hadn't heard. I needed to get home, and fast, before something far worse than being hit by a car might happen. Without even thinking, I stood up and wobbled my way to the sidewalk. The majority of the people nearby gasped in utter shock; even the boy who had first come to my aid muttered "My god..." before dashing over to where I now stood. I stared at him as he stared at me, taking in his blue eyes, spiky brown hair, and ragged appearance. He looked about my age, but I didn't care. I needed to leave, and thus, I turned away from him as I took another few steps.

"How can you be walking away after just being hit by a freaking car?" he asked, grabbing my arm. I jerked it away and glared, startling him enough that he allowed me to continue down the street, towards my house, away from the astonished eyes that followed me as I walked away.

How. How was I leaving the scene of a hit-and-run, visibly unscathed? Wouldn't they like to know. It wasn't like I could tell them that I was a vampire, that every single bone I had broken had healed only moments after breaking, that every bruise had disappeared instantly, that my concussion had subsided before it had even set in. I couldn't tell anyone about my life, no matter how badly I wanted to.

No one could or would understand how I live, even though all I wanted was someone that did.


	2. Cast Away, but Reeled Back Again

After scrambling up the fire escape, through my window, and back onto my bed, I put the magnetic window lock as it should be and closed it. Crossing my room and leaning against the door, I listened for any type of distressed conversation from downstairs. There was none; I heard only my father talking on the phone, pots and pans clanging together as my mother made dinner for the two of them, and the news in the background. It would seem that my assumption had been wrong, and that the silver car I had seen earlier had not been theirs.

_Great,_ I thought miserably,_ so all that drama for nothing. Just wonderful._ I laid down on my bed in desperation and stared boredly at the ceiling, beating myself up mentally for being so stupid and causing such a scene.

As I thought the incident over, an image of the tallish boy who had helped me came to mind. _Now what did he look like...oh, right. Blue eyes._ It had been ages since I'd seen anyone with blue eyes. I never really paid attention to anyone's features. They were all just humans to me, people so impossibly unlike me I didn't dare become associated with them. But I remembered that boy's eyes, because they had reminded me so strongly of my eyes, before I had become a vampire. Sparkling pools of ocean water, that's what they were like. A shimmering, deep blue unlike any other. _Spiky, brown, messy hair. _My hair was brown, too. And always messy, no matter how hard I tried to fix it. Which, might I add, is not very hard at all.

I stopped myself there, realizing exactly what I was doing. I was finding similarities between myself and that boy. That was not, in any way, okay. I had to keep telling myself that I was a vampire, that I could not be like humans. Besides, if I started accepting them, I can only imagine how long it would take to start getting close to them, and how quickly after that it would lead to their death and my discovery.

_You can never be like them,_ I repeated in my head, _it doesn't matter what you think. It's wrong. You're not like them, they're not like you._

But still...though I was different from people, that boy had been different from them, too. I could tell. He wasn't a victim of the seemingly homogeneic society. Like...me.

And he had made me feel so safe, for a fleeting moment, when those people had surrounded me. Unimaginable fear had consumed me then--fear that I'd be exposed for my true self--but he had stepped in, and the fear had gone away. No one had ever made me feel that secure. Ever. Not to mention that when other people had stood there and stared, he was the one who had tried to help me, even though I was a complete stranger. Not even my own family would manage that.

An argument placed itself in my mind. It was saying that the boy I had seen was unlike anyone I had ever come in contact with, that he made me feel differently than anyone ever had. But the other half was saying that he was just another human, that accepting him or getting close to him or anything of the sort would only lead to trouble. He wasn't a friend. He was an enemy.

I was so caught up in my inner battle that I almost didn't notice my door fly open suddenly. By the time I realized that my father had come into my room, he had already slapped me off of the bed and was glaring at me as I lay on the floor, frozen with surprise.

"You awful, horrible child," he mumbled, stepping back a foot or two as I began to stir. "I suppose we should have known, all this time, that you had some way of getting past our boundries."

"Wh-what are you...?" I began to ask, but was silenced as he slammed his foot onto the ground inches away from me, startling me into submission.

"I was watching the news, Akyra," he whispered, glaring at me more hatefully than ever before, "and we happened to see a broadcast about the little girl who walked away from a hit-and-run earlier this morning. Strangely enough, a little girl whose description fits yours to a tee."

Horror washed over me. I paled even more intensely, trying to fight the nausea that was creeping through my body and up into my throat. _I should have known,_ I thought regrettably. _Something as out of the ordinary as that couldn't be passed up by the media. And it was right in the middle of town, too..._I sat up, only to sway dizzily and collapse against my bed. "That...that wasn't me..." I lied desperately, anxious for some attempt at getting out of this. But my lie only made things worse; I was lifted off of the floor by my hair and dragged towards and then down the stairs, before being tossed onto the couch in front of the TV. My mother stood in the kitchen, watching with emotionless eyes.

The news was playing a re-run broadcast, and the reporter sitting at the desk was talking to his co-anchor about the exact incident I had been involved in earlier. The footage cut to a video clip, where you couldn't exactly see anything except a crowd of people standing in the middle of the street, and a few glimpses of me as I had been walking away from the scene. The description given by a witness, however, was completely unavoidable--this person had described me better than I could have. There was too much evidence against me for my lie to work any longer.

As soon as the clip ended, the TV was promptly shut off and the remote flew at my head. "I wonder how long _this_ has been going on. You've been sneaking out for a while, I assume? Thinking you can outsmart us, just because you think you're better than us? You're a monster, a demon, Akyra!"

"No, I'm not! Shut up!" I shouted, standing up to defend myself.

"I can only imagine what awful things you've been doing--killing people like the damned creature you are? Plotting to lash out at us, I can assume!"

"That isn't true!"

A book or two flew towards me, and as I dodged them, I heard the front door open. My father crossed the room, grabbed my arm, and dragged me roughly to the open door, where my mother stood silently. "Let go of me!" I ordered several times, kicking randomly as I struggled to escape. He stopped at the door, letting me look out at the dark front yard, and the sidewalk and street beyond it. "Take a good look at your new home, Akyra. We've tolerated you for far too long, and your habits have brought us to the conclusion that you are too dangerous a monster to keep a secret any longer. Go on and be someone else's problem." With that, he let go and shoved me onto the doorstep, slamming the door in my face. I heard it lock and watched through the front window as he and my mother walked away.

I stood on the step for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for the door to open again. Waiting for them to welcome me back inside and apologize for the outburst. That's what parents do, right? I knew they wouldn't, but my heart was so steeped in denial that I couldn't bring myself to move from the spot. There was something deep within me that was hoping they hadn't meant what they said, that the past eight years of hatred had been a lie. It was the only thing that was keeping me rooted to the pavement, that last glimmer of hope that they still loved me, even just a little bit.

I knew for sure when a half an hour had passed, and painfully told myself that it was time I left. Turning my back on my seven-year home and eight-year prison, I walked off into the night with a heavy heart, my unwanted teardrops falling onto the path ahead of me with every sorrowful step I took.

* * *

Sunlight dimly lit the dark sky above me. I had no idea what time of day it was, or where I was at the current moment. I had been wandering aimlessly for countless hours, completely lost and completely unsure of where to go. Not like I _had_ anywhere to go.

I sat down on a nearby park bench, taking a deep breath and wiping my tear-stained face free of the water droplets. It was warm out, even though it was only about dawn, and I was beginning to hate the warmth. It was almost too much to bear, this change in temperature, and I longed to not feel like a penguin dropped into the middle of some tropical island.

But that was the least of my worries at the moment. I had absolutely nowhere in the world to go--no family or friends to run to--and while under this much diress, I was beginning to doubt how much control I had over my vampire instincts. Even now, I was trembling with intense hunger and fearing the thought that I had nothing to dispel it. What could I do?

Trying to stay rational, I made an attempt to come up with a few solutions to my seemingly endless problem. After a few minutes passed, I got more and more discouraged when nothing at all came to mind. For the millionth time that morning, I could only tell myself it was hopeless. _I_ was hopeless. In the back of my mind, I knew I was losing control, slowly. I knew that if I didn't find something positive, something that would brighten the depressed darkness swirling inside me, I might not ever find a way out. And who knows where my life would go from there. Or if it would even go anywhere at all.

I was beginning to scare myself. I sat in the same spot for hours, shivering in discomfort and fear, trying to avoid my own thoughts. Every so often, I'd start to cry again, cry until I felt like there were no tears left to cry with. And even after that, I sobbed dryly, lying on my side on the hard bench and shaking uncontrollably. _There's no way out. It's over._

* * *

Apparently, I had fallen asleep without noticing, because when I opened my eyes again I was certainly not alone. It was much brighter out, obviously later in the day; I had to squint in the sunlight as I tried to look around. People were milling through the park, some of them eyeing me warily as they passed by, whispering things to one another and staring. My stare must have been just as clueless, because a lady came within a few feet of me and knelt down to my eye level. "Are you lost, sweetheart?" she asked, looking concerned. My eyes widened in terror, and I sat up quickly, nearly falling over in the process. My heart was racing, my head spinning as I struggled to remain in control. _Stay calm, stay calm..._I chanted to myself, wrapping both arms around my torso and huddling into a little ball as I shuddered violently. _Everything's all right. You're not hungry. She'll leave if you ignore her. Don't panic..._but instead of walking away like I hoped, she took a few more steps forward and gently touched my shoulder. "Do you need help?"

Horrified, I slapped her hand away and jumped up off the bench, skittering behind it before I half jumped, half walked away. "No! Leave me alone!" I screamed over my shoulder, ignoring the countless shocked expressions that glanced my way. Before I knew it, I was running, and I wasn't sure where. At that speed, all thoughts in my head slowed down, and I was able to relax my anxious mind, if only for a while. It was calming, and I didn't want to stop. I probably would have run forever, too, if I hadn't crossed paths with someone.

Midstep, I crashed into the side of a blackish-brown blur, tripping over it as it fell forward. I skidded across the grass and flipped onto my back. I lay there momentarily, slightly dazed, and then shook my head once and sat up. Getting to my feet again, I turned to run before hearing an ear-splitting moan from behind me. Turning, I looked down and nearly fell back over in surprise. Lying on the ground in front of me, clutching his arm and wailing, was a boy. But not just any boy--this was the boy that had tried to help me, when I had been hit by that car the day before. Brown hair, blue eyes, black army jacket, baggy, ripped jeans...the same person that had run into the street after the accident. Just thinking of that moment brought a wave of grief spilling over me, but realizing I'd had the luck to find him again made me forget all the sadness that had been overwhelming me.

"Oh, god..." he mumbled, rolling back and forth, "my freaking arm...dammit, it's broken..." Instantly, I felt not only responsible, but sorry for the boy. I realized that he wouldn't heal as fast as I would have in this situation, and that he must be in a lot of pain. Ignoring the instincts raging inside my mind, I sat on the grass and looked down at him.

"Are...are you all right?"

"Hell no," he snapped, turning his seething gaze up at me. "Why should I be all right, my arm's broken!" After a few more seconds of loathsome glaring, comprehension dawned on his face. "You look familiar..." he muttered, looking me over.

"As do you," I said. Inwardly, I was shocked that I was behaving so nonchalantly. First of all, I was talking to a human I didn't know, something I rarely, if ever, did. I was afraid of humans, so there was no clear reason why I was having such a comfortable conversation with him. Second, I was currently, right at that moment, resisting the urge to kill him with every fiber of my being. Just sitting that close to him was driving me insane--his blood smelled so fresh, so pure...like nothing I'd ever experienced before. My parents each had a smell also, but ignoring the smell for so long had turned me off of it. People like this boy, who were new to me, still had a noticable smell to them. Each one was different, like fingerprints. No two fingerprints--or smells--were the same, and this boy's smell was the best I'd ever known. Irresistable. It made my throat burn like it was on fire, and my head spun with the intoxicating aroma. Truly, it was clear that this single smell was one I wouldn't easily ignore. But I kept my cool, watching him lurch up and off of the ground into a shaky sitting position, still holding his broken arm to his chest.

"I might be wrong, but aren't you that girl that got hit by a car yesterday? I came to help you and all...you were on the news, right?" Paying no attention to his comment about the news, I nodded, and his face lit up. "So you're okay. Good. I was worried about you."

This was surprising to me; I hadn't been the object of someone's worry, compassion, or anything for as long as I could remember. But had he not just said he had worried? Worried about _me_? "...Th-Thank you..." I said shyly. I must have blushed, because he chuckled lightly before wincing in agony.

"Damn, this hurts," he said with a sigh. Suddenly, what sounded like police sirens could be heard in the distance; instantly, he perked up and awkwardly jumped to his feet. "Perfect timing. Curse 'em all."

"What are...?" I began to ask, but he interrupted.

"The cops, of course." Glancing down at his pockets, which I now noticed were very full, he smiled grimly. "Shoplifting, again." The sirens got closer, and he began to look a bit panicked. "That's my cue. Good to see you again," he said quickly. Hastily, he turned to run away. For reasons that will forever be unbeknowst to me, I stepped in front of him and shook my head.

"You can't just run off like this, you're hurt," I informed him, trying to look stern. _Now that I've found him...he's the only hope I have, _I thought to myself._ I can't pass up a chance like this--he may be the only human I'm able to be around. Without him, I'm doomed to be alone. Forever._

"No, really, I'll be fine. You wouldn't want to get involved in the law like this, trust me."

"Trust _me,_" I said desperately, "you're not going to outrun a fleet of police cars with a broken arm." Looking left and right, I noticed that we were next to a particularly thin alleyway, one that most people wouldn't consider an easy place to hide. Jumping at the chance, I pushed him towards it and shoved him behind me, ignoring his cries of pain.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?!" he demanded, yelling a stream of angry, swear-filled comments at the back of my head as I blocked him out of view. Minutes later, the police cars--three of them, I noticed--went zooming by, sirens wailing and lights blinking rapidly. After I was sure they were long gone, I pulled him back out of the alley and looked at him. Not only was his face bright red with anger, but his furious blue eyes were like daggers, stabbing me in succession. "That was one freaking crazy stunt, you know that?" he shrieked, rolling his eyes. Obviously, he was upset with me. I had ruined whatever chances I had of getting help from him. _Great._ Ashamed of myself, I turned to walk away, but was stopped by a shout. "Don't leave!"

I turned. "Why not?"

Staring at the ground with embarrassment, he shrugged. "I'm not done yelling at you?"

Despite my normal tendency to storm off in a huff, I found myself laughing. "Is that your real reason?"

"My name's Sora," he said awkwardly, smiling a little. I blinked at his reply, and then, for the first time in a long time, I smiled sincerely as I told him my name.

"I'm Akyra," I replied, stepping closer.

"Akyra..." he said, apparently trying my name out. "That's a pretty name for a girl."

"Sora's a pretty name for a girl, too," I said, laughing at my own joke. He scoffed slightly before cringing. "You know, we should probably get you to a doctor."

"Nah," Sora said, shaking his head. "I've got somewhere better to go than some stinking hospital. Follow me," he offered, jerking his head in the direction he started walking.

The old me would have immediately turned and ran for their life, sprinting off into oblivion full of fear and the desire to remain in solitude for as long as possible--away from problems, away from anxiety, away from everything and anything. But recent events had changed that--I now knew what it was like to be truly alone. Sora had shown me, for the first time, the feeling of wanting to be free from that loneliness. He had given me the opportunity to look at life differently, and that glimpse of a new, brighter future had changed me. I was a new person. Who I'd become over the years was no longer who I was, and I was ready to start over.

My mind was made up, and I jogged forward a few steps to catch up with Sora. "Coming," I called, giggling in spite of myself. I was just a little bit happy, for the first time. For the first time, I felt like I was going to start living the life of the Akyra I was meant to be.

* * *

"Where are we going?"

"You've probably asked that about a hundred times, Akyra," Sora replied, his mood edging dangerously close to annoyed.

"But you still haven't answered," I shot back. He huffed loudly and stopped walking, turning around to face me.

"Fine, fine. If you're really that interested, we're going to my apartment."

My eyes widened. "You have an apartment?"

"Yeah, me and my brother."

"What about your parents?" I asked, interested. I was confused to see Sora's jaw clench, and he lowered his head slowly.

"They...they don't live with us," he whispered, his voice shaking.

"Oh," I replied, walking alongside him as he continued down the street. He looked over at me, now back to his old self, and titled his head curiously.

"Where do you live?"

This threw me off; I stopped walking and stood stock-still, unsure of how to respond. Do I tell him I was thrown out of my house because I'm a vampire? Or do I say I was thrown out of my house for a different reason entirely? Even still, should I make something up completely?

"Um...nowhere," I answered finally, sounding as sad as I felt. That realization was still hard to grasp, it seemed.

"You're kidding," Sora said in surprise. After a few moments, he shook his head disbelievingly. "So you're homeless, then? How'd you end up like that?"

"Well, uh, my parents and I didn't get along. They threw me out." That seemed to be an adequate explanation, and a truthful one at that. Satisfied, I waited for him to say something. However, he didn't; he just kept walking, squinting his eyes as if he was trying to focus on something.

"That sucks," he mumbled finally, sighing. "I feel pretty bad..."

"No, don't," I pleaded, not wanting his pity. I didn't need anyone's pity; it would just make me feel more sorry for myself as a result.

"Seriously, Akyra, I'm going to talk to Cloud and figure something out for you. It's not right to let a person go homeless when you know there's a way to help them."

"Sora, I don't need---" Halfway through my sentence, Sora lifted his good arm and put his hand over my mouth. I was so shocked I nearly bit him, but focused on biting my lip instead.

"You _do_ need help, Akyra. Stop cheating yourself out of good fortune and just go with the flow. You'll never be happy if you don't accept help from people sometime."

_He's right_, I thought, somewhat bitterly. _I can't keep refusing this. If I don't want to be alone, I have to let him help._ "All right," I agreed, my speech muffled by his hand. Lifting it away, he patted my head with the same hand and then went back to walking. Five minutes or so passed, and then I realized something.

"Sora, who's Cloud? You mentioned him before."

"Oh, Cloud," he said, laughing, "Cloud's my cousin. He's older than me."

"How old _are_ you?"

"Fifteen, sixteen in two months. October."

"I'm sixteen in November," I said proudly, adding a mumbled "I think" at the end. He smiled at me.

"So we're pretty much the same age. That's cool."

"Yeah," I replied quietly, watching my feet step in a steady, one-two rythym as I followed Sora. I hadn't known anyone my age since I was six years old. I hadn't had any friends since about then, either, but I wasn't yet sure if I could consider Sora a friend, or if he was more an aquaintance.

"Here we are!" Sora piped cheerfully, nodding towards the apartment building to my right. Looking up at it, I noticed it had several floors, and lots of windows, some lit from the inside. The door in front of us was glass and see-through, and I could see the lobby before we even walked through. Sora called a greeting to the secretary behind the desk and headed towards a hallway, which led to an elevator. He stepped inside confidently and turned to press a button, but then noticed me, still standing in the hallway, hands clenched together fearfully. "You okay?"

"I...I've never really been on an elevator before," I confessed, trying not to look embarrassed. I expected to be laughed at, but Sora only looked at me sympathetically before answering.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, just walk in." I did as I was told, and watched Sora press a button for the fourth floor. Nothing happened for a moment, and then the elevator car shuddered slightly before jerking upwards. I screamed, and immediately heard Sora chuckle. "It's not Tower of Terror. Relax."

"What's Tower of Terror?"

"Right, you don't know. So relax."

Trying my best to remain composed, I waitied patiently while the car continued upwards, and then supressed another yelp when it jerked to a stop. Sora stepped out, and I gratefully followed, trailing him down a hallway towards a door marked "4C", which he asked me to open for him. I did, and we were immediately greeted by loud, angry screaming.

"Sora, you _moron_!" screamed the boy who ran toward us. He had spiky, blonde hair, and was wearing a pair of cargo pants and a blue t-shirt over a white hooded sweatshirt. Sora grimaced as the boy continued reprimanding him without even stopping to notice me. "I can't believe you would go and pull a stunt like that; I heard the cruisers go by, don't try and tell me it wasn't you because I know it was! Look at your pockets; they're freaking _full_ of stolen stuff! How could you?!"

"Roxas, you sound like someone's mother should..." Sora remarked sarcastically, rolling his eyes and smirking at me. The other boy, Roxas, sighed in desperation and leaned against the open door.

"What, you expect me to be completely calm over the fact that you just stole from the same store you got caught stealing from a week ago? You're just asking to get arrested."

"Look, I was just...borrowing..." Sora attempted, but Roxas only swore angrily and muttered something about kleptomania before he walked back into the apartment, leaving the door open. "Heh, figured he'd be mad. He's always been a little overprotective." Turning to me, he shrugged as if to say "well, now you know", and then grinned. "That's my twin brother, Roxas. As you can probably tell, we're not identical." That said, he proceeded into his apartment. Assuming I should follow, I did, and closed the door behind me. Hearing it close, Roxas looked up and noticed me for the first time since we had arrived.

"And who's this, someone you kidnapped for ransom?"

"That's Akyra," Sora answered, glaring at his brother. "She hasn't been kidnapped; she's the girl that got hit by the car yesterday. I saw her again at the park when I was running from the cops..." Roxas groaned and put a hand on his head, "...and when I broke my arm, she walked back here with me."

"You broke your arm?" Roxas asked, sounding surprisingly calm. "Good thing Cloud came down to help with the rent. I'll go get him, wait here." Just before he was about to walk into an adjoining room, he stopped and turned to me. "Nice meeting you."

"You as well," I muttered, feeling shy. Roxas grinned and continued into the room, emerging moments later with a much taller, much blonder boy dressed completely in black except for a white t-shirt under his motorcycle jacket.

"What happened, Sora?" the boy asked, walking over and inspecting the shorter boy's limp, swollen arm. Sora yelped in pain as the older boy lifted it in his hand. "It's broken?"

"Let go, Cloud, that hurts like hell," Sora complained, pushing his cousin's hand away. Cloud rolled his eyes.

"Do you want to go to the hospital?"

"No," Sora answered loudly, "can't you call Taelia?"

Sighing, Cloud nodded. "I guess so. Take a seat and don't move." Once again, it had taken the next newcomer until now to notice me. "Um, who's...?"

"Akyra. She got hit by the car yesterday, and she came here with me after I broke my arm."

"Let me guess, she helped you escape the cops?" his cousin asked, chuckling. He looked at me. "Sora never makes friends unless they get him away from the police. He's a little strange like that. It's nice to meet you, by the way," he added as he picked up a cordless phone off of the nearby counter and dialed it. Sora made his way over to a couch, and I followed and sat down beside him as he turned on the TV.

"What do you watch?" he inquired, handing me the remote. After staring at it for a moment, I hit the channel button until I found the comedy I always ended up watching. Sora burst out laughing, and even Roxas noticed and laughed from across the room.

"_Saturdays_? This is our favorite," he said excitedly, leaning back and placing his injured arm on a stack of pillows. I did the same, and soon found myself quite comfortable. It was odd; I'd only been in the apartment for a few minutes, but I already felt at home, sitting on their couch and watching TV with them. I was happy, content, and secure, and I wanted nothing more than to stay forever. _Unlikely,_ I thought disappointedly, _three boys letting a girl live with them. Much less a girl that's pretty much a stranger. _Looking at Sora nervously, I shivered as the smell of his blood drifted back into my senses. I could smell Roxas as well--sitting in the recliner next to the couch--and Cloud, who was on the other side of the big living room, but their smells were so inferior in comparison to Sora's that I could only ignore them. As ecstatic as I was to be somewhere where I was at ease, it was still difficult to resist his blood.

Just as I was considering this, the door opened again, and a woman about Cloud's height walked in. She had shoulder length blonde hair and emerald green eyes, seeming catlike in her appearance and movements. She wore a long, tan jacket, which she was apparently wearing over a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. "Okay, so what happened now? Cloud calls me and says _something_ about _someone_ and a broken arm..."

"That would me moi!" Sora shouted from my left, laughing. Roxas held in his own laughter, but it escaped in short bursts nonetheless.

"Sora, is it humanly possible for you to stay out of trouble?" the woman asked, shaking her head good-naturedly.

"Honestly, Taelia, I'm beginning to doubt that," Cloud answered, walking over to stand beside her. Sora stuck his tongue out and laughed teasingly. Rolling her eyes at him, Taelia perked up noticably when she saw me.

"Who's this?"

"Akyra," the three boys said in unison, not bothering to explain any further. Taelia smiled.

"Hi there, Akyra, I'm Taelia; Sora and Roxas's cousin, Cloud's twin sister. Sorry to see you've had to deal with the lot of them on your own, even I have trouble bearing it. And I'm family." I only shrugged, not confident on how to respond, and turned back to the TV. In my peripheral vison (which, might I add, is almost as powerful as my normal vision) I noticed Taelia taking some bandages and other medical supplies out of a bag she had set on the counter. Sora cringed.

"You're not going to wrap it, are you?"

"No, Sora, I'm going to let your arm sit there and magically heal on its own. Of _course_ I'm going to wrap it; just stay still and keep quiet," she ordered as she came nearer to her younger cousin, carrying one of the several rolls of bandages. Slowly, she began wrapping Sora's broken arm, much to his dismay. Ignoring his swearing, complaining, and flailing, she soon finished with the bandage and reached back into the bag, pulling out a sling and putting Sora's arm in it before securing the strap behind his neck. "There, all set. Don't do anything stupid until it heals, and keep it in the sling."

"How long...?" Sora began to ask, but his cousin was one step ahead of him.

"Two weeks," she answered briskly, and Sora groaned before mumbling a short stream of swears. Shaking her head, Taelia shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you; that's how long it takes to heal and there's nothing you or I can do about it."

_Doesn't apply to me,_ I thought, fidgeting on the couch. Looking out the window beside me, I noticed that the sun was starting to go down; glancing at the clock on the other side of the room, I was surprised to see that it was already 5 o'clock. It must have been around three or four when I had run into Sora in the park.

"So, Akyra, where are you from?" Taelia asked, snapping me back into reality. Blinking a few times, I was about to answer when Sora spoke up suddenly.

"She doesn't live anywhere. Her parents kicked her out."

A silence settled over the room. The only noise came from the TV, which was now blaring some commercial for chewing gum. Flushing slightly, I stared awkwardly at my feet before hearing Cloud start up the conversation again.

"Is that why you brought her here, Sora? So she had a place to stay?" Sora nodded, and a slightly sympathetic look swept over Cloud's face, followed by something that looked like concern. But I could have been wrong. Turning to me, he grinned. "Staying for dinner, then?"

"Staying for longer than that, stupid brother," Taelia said loudly, punching Cloud in the arm. "Akyra, you're welcome to stay here if you'd like, at least until you sort things out with your parents."

At that thought, I paled. Only I knew that there was more than just a child-parent arguement going on here; only I was aware that there would never be a chance for me to go back home. If I was going to stay here, it would probably have to be for good. I had nowhere else to go. _Maybe if they start to like me, they'll let me live here forever. I just have to stay in control long enough to win their trust, that's all._

"I'd like that," I said thankfully, and was relieved to see pleasant, friendly smiles as a response. This could work.

_There are still two big problems, though--actually _staying_ in control of my instincts, and the fact that I'm a vampire._

Okay, so maybe it wouldn't work _so_ well. It seemed that I was going to have to play my cards right to gamble my way through. At least I was willing to.


	3. Nightmarish Foresight

After a few hours of me watching TV, Sora and Roxas bickering loudly, and Cloud and Taelia trying to break up their constant fights, the older pair of twins decided it was about time to start dinner preparations. To Sora and his brother's dismay, they asked _me_ what I wanted for dinner. Of course, I had no clue what I wanted--I only ate human food to remain in check, to feel human so I could keep myself in that mind set. Asking me about dinner was useless, but I played along as best as I could.

"Um..." I mumbled, thinking for a minute. Remembering back to my childhood, before I had become a vampire, I had always loved pizza. "I like pizza," I offered, almost collapsing in relief when Cloud nodded in agreement.

"Good thing, we do too. I'll call it in...Taelia, do they still deliver?"

"No, I'll drive over and pick it up, though," she said helpfully. Sora, still lying across the couch, stiffened, and Roxas eyed him nervously. Noticing this, Cloud shot Taelia a worried glance before walking over to get the phone. I noticed as well, but in a different way--the smell of Sora's blood went cold suddenly, which obviously signified that something had scared him.

"Taelia?" Roxas asked, sitting up straighter in the recliner to see her. "Can I come with you?" Taelia smiled and nodded, and Sora put a pillow over his head and curled himself up into the very corner of the couch, apparently shaking slightly. "Sora, you okay?" his brother asked, leaning over as he looked at him.

"Just leave me alone," Sora muttered, and Roxas did. A few seconds later, he got up and walked out of the room and down a nearby hallway, leaving Roxas, Taelia, Cloud and I in a stunned, awkward silence. Cloud hung up the phone just as Sora was leaving, and turned to Roxas and Taelia.

"They told me to start over now; it should be ready by the time we get there. Do you mind if I come with you?"

"Not at all, Cloud, you can drive!" his sister said, laughing as she tossed him the car keys. "Oh, Akyra, are you all right here or do you want to come, too?"

I shrugged. "I'll stay here," I said quietly. This was an honest decision--I hadn't been in a car in eight years, and I wasn't about to start. I never liked the idea of being in such a small vehicle, much less surrounded by a group of humans whose smells were so new to me. On the other hand, Sora's smell was the hardest to resist of all, and staying here alone might be a mistake. _But...the more time I spend around him, the more familiar I become with his smell...and then I won't have any trouble ignoring it. So it could be a good thing to stay, too._ This thought had led me to my current decision, and I had already made myself comfortable in front of the TV by the time the other three finally left. A new episode of _Saturdays_ was on, and I was excited at the fact that I had actually begun to follow the storyline of the show.

A few minutes into the episode, I began to wonder where Sora had gone. I shut off the TV and walked around to the other side of the couch, standing there momentarily before tip-toeing down the hallway. There were five doors, two on each side and one at the very end, and there were no lights on behind any of them, except for one. Assuming Sora was in there, I slowly and quietly pushed open the door a crack and peeked in, being careful to stay out of sight.

Sora was sitting on a bed, his back to me as he stared out the huge window in front of him. A lamp, sitting on a desk, had been turned on, and from what I could see his room was a complete mess. Comic books, clothes, school books, and assorted paraphernalia were scattered across the barely visible floor, piling up in various places. It was completely silent, now that the TV was off, and I was confused as to why Sora had shut himself up in his room so suddenly. I took another unnoticable step in, opening the door a tiny bit more. He wouldn't have noticed me if I hadn't stepped on his cellphone, which immediately made a beeping noise, causing him to spin around so fast he nearly fell off his bed.

"What are you doing in here?" he demanded, looking angry. Again, I felt ashamed, but managed to stick up for myself.

"I-I was wondering why you were all alone, and not out there," I whispered, pointing towards the living room. Sora glared, unconvinced.

"And that gives you reason to come into my room?"

"Well, uh..." As hard as I tried, I couldn't find a clear reason why I had come into his room in the first place. Was it curiousity? Obviously. But there was something else, deep down, that had led me there. Something that had told me I needed to know what was wrong, so that I could help to make it right. That's...worry, isn't it? I wouldn't know. I hadn't ever worried about anyone, not even myself. But I was worried about him, I was sure of it. There was no other explanation. "I was worried."

Sora laughed bitterly. "Interesting. Thought I was a recluse, or something?"

"Not exactly...I just wanted to know where you were, that's all."

"Don't hide it; you know you were curious, too." _He can tell?_ "Well..." he sighed. "Curiousity may have killed the cat, but it doesn't mean you can kill curiousity. Might as well fill you in." Taking a deep breath, he looked up at me seriously. "Promise you'll listen?"

I nodded. "I promise." He nodded back, and then began.

"Okay, first of all, I lied to you, while we were walking here." Confused, I titled my head to the side, but he held up a hand. "Just let me finish. I lied, because I told you my parents didn't live here. That's not the truth."

"Then what is?" I asked, completely lost.

"My parents...are dead," he said, very, very quietly.

"But that still means they don't live here," I pointed out. He scoffed and glared at me.

"It doesn't change the fact that they're dead, Akyra." I felt my blood go cold, and my eyes widened as I clamped my mouth shut. "They died in a car accident, three years ago. I was twelve." I sat in stunned silence, remembering how he'd come to my side so quickly when I had been hit by that car. Obviously, he had been afraid that I was dead. "We've lived here our entire life, and always knew that there were a lot of bars in town...and that driving at night was dangerous, unless you were really careful," Sora explained, staring at his feet sadly. "My mom was always afraid of night driving. She pretty much always refused to. Except..." he took another deep breath. "Except for that one night. I got really sick in the middle of the night, and my dad was going to go get me some medicine at the pharmacy across town. My mom planned on staying home and watching me, so she told him what medicine to get, but he kept forgetting right after she told him. Taelia and Cloud had been spending the night, so she decided to go with my dad, to make sure he got the right medicine, and told them to watch my brother and I." A tear slid down his cheek. "We never saw them again."

"What happened?" I asked gently, sensing that he was nearing a difficult part of the story.

"They were driving back home, and a drunk driver was going east on the westbound road they were on. He hit them head on at eighty or so miles per hour. They both died on impact." A violent shudder racked his body, and his speaking became very slow and choked up. "The guy that hit them got arrested and fined five hundred bucks or something. He earned himself a few years in prison on top of that, but it wasn't worth the lives of my parents. Dammit..." he muttered, starting to cry lightly. I could only sit there awkwardly, feeling like I should help but unsure of how to.

"That's awful," I mumbled. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," he replied through sobs, "it's not like it's your fault. I've always felt responsible, though; like, if I wasn't sick that night, maybe they would have lived. Maybe they'd still be here."

"But you can't control that," I said quickly, stepping closer to him. "You can't blame yourself for things that are out of your control." He stared at me, and shrugged.

"That's what Taelia told me, at their funeral. A bunch of people I'd never met were there, and they all wanted to put us in foster care. But Roxas and I couldn't just leave; our home was the only part of our former lives we had left. We couldn't just toss it away like it had never been there. So Cloud and Taelia started paying the rent for us, and moved in temporarily. They went to all our school meetings, paid for our medical and dental care, everything. It's because of them that we've been able to stay here."

"Wow," I said, awed. I had never known such compassion, such love between family members. I was amazed.

"They go back and forth between this apartment and their house every now and then, and Roxas and I get along pretty well on our own anyway." Sora continued, regaining his composure slightly. "We're all we have left, the four of us."

"Is that why you were so upset, when they left tonight?" I asked, starting to put the pieces together. "You were afraid something would happen to them?" He nodded, looking out the window and sniffiling quietly. "And you came back here because you didn't want anyone to know you were bothered by it."

"Yeah, that's right. I myself haven't been in a car since then; I refuse to. I don't know why, really..." he said, sounding embarrassed, "I just get really scared all of a sudden. One time when the cops actually caught me shoplifting, I had such a panic attack in the cruiser that they drove me straight to the hospital instead of the station. It was awful."

I could relate to that, in a way--there were several things that, since I had become a vampire, I had stopped doing completely. Watching movies or TV shows with any amount of violence in them, drinking liquids that weren't clear, eating meat, and things like that. It was like I was trying to hide from anything and everything that would give me too much of an incentive to cut loose and follow my instincts, for once. For Sora, it was almost the same. He was trying to avoid all aspects connecting to his parents' deaths, and by doing so had conditioned himself to not accept those situations.

"Is that why you steal things, Sora? Is it venting, or something?" I asked. He chuckled, shaking his head.

"It's not venting, no. When I was about thirteen, I started feeling really guilty, spending money that Cloud and Taelia gave me. I thought that if I could get what I wanted for free, they could keep their money. They had given us so much already, it was the least I could do to save them their money. Or so I thought," he added, grinning. "I started shoplifting from stores, and at first everyone thought I was in some type of post-traumatic denial, or withdrawl, or whatever. When it became a habit, they figured I was just raging at the world because I felt it had raged against me enough already. I'm not so convinced that that's true."

"Aren't they half right?" At this question, he burst out laughing. It seemed he had pulled himself together again, and was back to his old self.

"You know, I guess they are, aren't they? You're pretty sharp," he said, laughing loudly. I smiled. I liked _this_ Sora a lot better.

But he was wrong. I wasn't sharp; that wasn't why I had commented the way I did. I had said that because I knew, deep down, that that was exactly what I had been doing for the past eight years. Sora and I had one concrete thing in common--the world had turned its back on us, so we had turned our backs on the world. We denied ourselves that truth, and that's what had been hurting us all along.

* * *

"Pizza's here!" Taelia called from the kitchen. I turned my head slightly as I glanced over my shoulder, observing the hallway brighten as more lights were turned on.

Sora threw down his handful of playing cards and pointed. There were five cards--a two, a jack, a ten, an ace, and a five, all different suits. I laughed at the horrible state of his poker hand and then threw my cards down. Apparently, I had had better luck, and landed a full house. He groaned loudly and fell back on his bed. "Crap, I'm bad at this."

"Sora, get out here already!" Roxas yelled, kicking the door open suddenly. I screamed in surprise and toppled backwards, knocking over a messy stack of comic books. The two brothers stared at me for a moment before bursting into forceful laughter, and I stood back up and stomped out of the room in mock anger. Sora and Roxas vaulted over the back of the couch, landing on the cushions and falling right off again. Taelia handed me plates and a box of pizza, and pointed to the coffee table in front of the TV.

"Take that over there; I'm sure those two will calm down once they see food. They always do." I nodded, and put everything down where she had suggested. Instantly, Sora opened the box, nearly ripping off the cover in the process, and tore three pieces of pizza away from the mass of crust and cheese. Roxas took another three, leaving two for me. Two more than I would need, but I took one anyway and began nibbling it absentmindedly, paying attention to the game show Sora had just put on the TV. I'd never seen it before, and it looked interesting. A man had just lost about three hundred thousand dollars because he claimed that Snoopy from _Peanuts_ was a border collie, not a beagle. Even I knew that was wrong; I'd read the comic in the paper before.

"Wow, are all the people on this show so _stupid_?" Sora asked through a mouthful of cheese, looking over to his brother for a reply. Roxas shrugged and bit off almost half a piece of pizza, chewing for a few seconds before drowning it in whatever he was drinking. _What _is_ he drinking...?_

"What's that?" I asked as innocently as I could, not wanting to seem completely clueless. Nonetheless, the two boys stared at me like they had just seen a ghost. _Vampire, really, but whatever,_ I thought sardonically. Turning my attention away from my own thoughts, I realized Sora was laughing at me.

"It's soda, what else? You can't be saying you've never seen a soda before!"

"No, I've seen it, I never knew what it was, though..." I defended, feeling embarrassed yet again.

"You've never had soda." Roxas mumbled, shaking his head. "You've been missing out. Wait here," he said, walking into the kitchen. He returned a few moments later carrying a red aluminum can, which he handed to me. Taking it, I looked from the can, to Roxas, to Sora, and back to the can, unsure of what to do next. "Do you know how to open it?" I shook my head, and he sighed before opening it for me. "Drink some, you'll like it."

_It won't have any taste..._I argued silently, but took a sip anyway. The liquid was cold, and though it was like drinking tasteless water, the bubbles felt good. I slurped as much as I could fit in a mouthful, regretting it instantly when the fizz burned right through to my nose. I coughed at the uncomfortable sensation, and all the soda poured out of my mouth. I was given a roll of paper towels to mop the floor up with, but it wasn't nearly dry anyway.

"That was hilarious to watch, you know," Sora commented, smiling at me. "You were like a little kid."

"Thanks a lot," I snapped sarcastically, grinning. I finished off my piece of pizza before going back to what was left of the soda, drinking it in small sips so as to not be overwhelmed by the bubbles. Taelia walked in after a moment, and Cloud stuck his head out of the kitchen doorway.

"Sora, Roxas, dishes," he said quickly before ducking back into the kitchen. The brothers groaned, but reluctantly got up and left Taelia and I alone.

"Akyra," she whispered after a moment, looking over at me. I turned away from the TV and stared at her. "Was Sora all right, after we left?"

"Um..." I said, trying to decide what to say. "He was in his room for a while." _There, that seemed harmless enough._ She nodded as if she had anticipated this answer.

"He told you the story, didn't he? About his parents?"

I was thrown off briefly; I hadn't expected her to be so accurate in her assumption. "Yes, he...he did tell me."

"He's had a tough time with that, more so than his brother. He won't even go near a car, much less ride in one. He'll be starting driver's ed in school next year, to get his permit, and I can only wonder how he'll handle that. Or if he'll just run from it; he has a habit of hiding from his problems. That's why he doesn't have many friends, unfortunately."

"I can relate," I admitted, feeling a little uneasy. I had never really shared the fact that I had trouble dealing with my problems, too.

"You know, you're the only person he's ever opened up to. He's never talked about that night with anyone except us, and even then he nearly has an emotional breakdown over it." She smiled at me as I sat there, amazed. _Me? I, of all people, am the only person Sora's ever confided his problems in? For years, I've known nothing but keeping my problems to myself, and ignoring how they consume me. No one has ever stopped to worry about me or pay attention to me, or even to recognize that I exist. And suddenly I meet this boy, and he trusts me right from the start, and cares about me. Why? Why me? Why not someone else...?_ "You do realize, Akyra, that Sora has an acute sense of...other people. He can tell what they're feeling from the moment he sees them, and somehow, he just knows how to make them feel better. It's amazing, how he can recognize that, and not recognize his own inner battles. Cloud and I have known for a long time that all he needed was one friend...just one friend to help _him_, to give him a taste of his own medicine. You, Akyra..." she chuckled. "You're that friend. I can tell he likes you; he wouldn't have insisted on being around you any other way."

I blushed, in spite of myself. To know that for the first time in my life, someone else liked to be around me and liked _me_...it was almost too much to bear. I couldn't contain my surprise, and I was even more surprised when I felt a feeling of happiness, of _joy_, welling up inside me. _I'm Sora's friend._ _He's _my_ friend._

"Hey, we're done with the dishes, Taelia!" I turned around and saw Sora running in, and the happy feeling inside me exploded. I beamed and waved from my spot on the couch.

"Hi, Sora!" I said cheerfully. My voice didn't sound like my own as I said that; it sounded positive, not derogatory, like my mind had finally found a reason to look at the glass half full. For the second time in the same day, my life had taken another step closer to the road towards happiness.

As I reveled in this thought, I realized Sora was laughing. Looking over at him again, I saw him wave jokingly. "Hiya, Akyra! Miss me the whole three minutes I was gone?" I found myself laughing once more, but this time the laughing was completely and utterly genuine. I liked the sound of it, the feeling of it as I rocked back and forth, caught up in the hilarity. It was so beautiful, that laughter, that I didn't end it until long after Sora had taken his spot beside me.

Then again, I realized he didn't know the _true_ me. Would I ever be able to tell him?

For some reason, I didn't care, right then. I only cared that I finally had reason to be happy.

* * *

The TV clicked off a final time as Cloud set the remote down on the end table, nodding towards the ink-black night sky out the window. "Bed. Now."

"Aww Cloud, c'mon! I wanna watch all those late-night horror movies!" Sora pleaded. I cringed noticabely, but no one was paying attention, thankfully.

"Yeah, right. That's exactly what you _don't_ need, Sora. Stop arguing and just go to bed."

The younger boy pouted briefly before standing and following his brother down the hallway. Roxas went into the door across from Sora's, and Taelia trailed behind. I was confused as to why, but then she reappeared, dragging Sora behind her. "I nearly forgot--Roxas informed us that you were shoplifting again today."

"...yeah, so?" Sora replied, purposely looking away from his cousins. Cloud held out his hand.

"Empty your pockets."

"How about I don't and say I did?"

"Listen to him, Sora." Taelia said sternly, her expression changing completely. Even I was a little unsettled by her commanding stare, so it was unsurprising that Sora slowly pulled his good arm out of her grasp and reached into his pockets, taking out what was inside and laying them in Cloud's outstretched hand.

"CDs? Again?" the older boy said with exasperation, placing them on the counter. "Second time since last week, am I right?"

"You might be."

Cloud sighed. "I can't believe you. Just..." he muttered as he shook his head in frustration, "...go to bed." Sora gladly took the opportunity and went back to his room, closing the door behind him. Taelia laid a hand on Cloud's shoulder, noticing how distraught he was. "What are we going to do with him, Tae?"

"Don't worry about that now, just go to bed. I'll get Akyra settled." Cloud nodded and went down the hallway, entering the very first door on the left. "Akyra, I hope you don't mind sleeping on the couch...it's a pullout, so you'll probably be okay."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks."

"You're welcome...oh, wait, you don't have any pajamas, do you? Or any other clothes, for that matter." For a moment she stood silently, pondering this. "You can borrow some of mine for now, and we'll go shopping for you tomorrow. Sound okay?" Usually, I went shopping for myself using money I stole from my parents. It was different hearing someone else offer to take me, but I accepted. She gave me a pair of blue and white flannel pajama bottoms that fit well for the most part, other than being a little long, and a light blue t-shirt that was too small for her but fit me perfectly. Afterwards, I helped her move the coffee table and set up the pullout bed built into the couch. "Well, there you go. Make yourself comfortable, and if you need me, I'm in the first room on the right." I nodded, and she walked away. "Good night," she added as she went into her room.

Now I was alone. A few of the kitchen lights were still on, dimly lighting the living room through the doorway. I was all right with that; at home I kept my bathroom light on at night anyway. Something about pure darkness shook me up, and I could never deal with it for long.

Thoughts of home caused a lump to rise in my throat, but then I reminded myself why I wasn't there. My parents didn't want me. They hated me. And if they were that uncaring about their own daughter, then they didn't deserve my tears. I wasn't going to miss them. I was determined of that, now that I was convinced there _were_ people who cared about me. Lying down on the bed and burrowing under the sheets and comforter Taelia had given me, I dismissed all those thoughts and concentrated on falling asleep. It had been almost twenty-four hours since I had been kicked out, and since then I had only gotten a few hours of rest. I was exhausted, and within minutes I drifted off to sleep.

And as I slept, I dreamed.

_White. Everything around me was white. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, my clothes...everything. Like a blank sheet of paper, like an easel with no paint. Empty of everything._

_I was alone in what appeared to be a small, 10 by 10 room. Tile-like flooring glistened shone beneath my white sneakers, which clicked against the glass-like crystal as I took a step foward. There were no windows in this room, no door, no way out. I felt very, very trapped, suddenly, and sat down on the floor in submission. Never in my life had I ever felt so exposed, even as I was completely and utterly alone. It was like the walls knew my secrets, like by saying nothing, everything was heard nonetheless. It was terrifying, unnerving. I tried to scream, but no sound escaped my mouth. That silence scared me to death. But what I heard next scared me more._

_"Akyra? What are you doing?" _

_I spun around and looked towards where the voice was. "No," I whispered silently as I saw the person who stood mere feet from me. "No, no, no..."_

_"What's wrong with you?" Sora asked, tilting his head the way he tended to when he was confused. "Are you okay?"_

_"No, no, no..." I repeated noiselessly, starting to shake as the fear built up within me. I wasn't okay. I was the furthest thing from okay. I was stuck in a room with no exit, and the only person there with me was Sora. This could have been a good thing, but not now. Now, the only thing I knew was my own fear, and that smell. The smell of Sora's blood._

_My throat burned so intensely with thirst I was afraid I was going to throw up from the sheer pain of it. My head spun so fast that the room seemed to be flipped upside down completely, and everything I saw was nothing but a blur. Every inch of me throbbed painfully, and I swore I would have rather been dead then put up with the pain and suffering I was experiencing right then. The worst thing was that deep down, I knew the only thing that would have any hope of stopping it was Sora's blood. And I was absolutely determined to avoid that in every way I could. "Go away," I muttered desperately. But I knew he couldn't hear me; even I couldn't hear myself. He wouldn't go away._

_I finally resorted to squeezing my eyes shut, which at least ended the spinning. But that _smell._ I couldn't ignore it, even as I tried with every fiber of my will to cast it away as unimportant. Maybe, if I just sat here forever, my eyes closed tightly, I'd be able to pretend this wasn't happening..._

_"Hey, listen to me." My eyes forced themselves open at the sound, and I shrieked again. Sora was kneeling in front of me, his face inches from mine as I sat huddled against the wall, quivering. Immediately, I knew he was far too close. I couldn't hold out much longer, as much as I told myself I had to. I needed to distance myself from him, at least._

_Just when I was about to stand up, he laid a hand on my shoulder. My throat seemed to burst into flame, my head throbbing as if it had just been hammered against a brick wall. I knew I had lost control the moment that I did, and knew there was no way to take it back now. _

_Without conciously knowing what I was doing, I roughly swatted Sora's hand away and leapt forward. It was like my mind had been turned off; I was on autopilot, and the brakes were shot, the engine gunned full speed. We flew a few feet across the room as I tackled him, and when he landed on his back, directly to my left, I instantly spun, found his neck, and bit down._

_The boy screamed louder than I thought possible, and if there had been windows in the room I knew they would have broken. Normally I would have run for my life--but I was trapped, and in a daze I knew no way out of. It was too late. _

_A relief spread over me after a few seconds. My throat, previously feeling as though heated spikes had been driven through it, returned to normal. Everything gradually stopped spinning, and my head stopped throbbing incessantly. And, finally, I could see again--though I would have rather been blind._

_Sora lay in front of me now, motionless, dead. Everything around me was spotted with red...my clothes, the floor, everything. I stood up and backed away, completely horrified, only to back into the wall behind me. I stood completely still, gasping in terror, before turning around and pressing my face against the wall to try and erase the terrible scene from my memory. I couldn't believe I had just done what I had. I had made allies with the side of myself that I hated. I had betrayed myself once and for all._

_After a few moments, as tears began to slide slowly down my pale face, I opened my closed eyes. Surprisingly, the wall appeared to be gone--in its place was a mirror. I took a step back and looked into it. But the person that I saw couldn't be me. I refused to believe that._

_I saw a girl with brown hair, and red eyes, wide with horror; a girl with a tear-streaked, impossibly pale face that crumpled as she viewed the image in the mirror. A girl with white clothes, stained red, and sharp, pointed white teeth tinted to match. And behind her, the victim of her instinct. _

_I screamed loudly, and was slightly shocked when I heard my own scream echo around me, as if my voice had found itself again. The girl in the mirror screamed too, and as the realization came to me, I crumpled onto the ground and continued screaming into the floor as I sobbed and wailed._

_I was the girl in the mirror, no matter how badly I wanted to deny it. I had killed Sora._

I awoke screaming at the top of my lungs, in a cold-sweat, and shaking as though I was having a seizure. For a moment I was relieved to see that I wasn't in that white room, but in Sora's living room, buried under a heap of blankets on the pull-out couch. Outside the window, the sky was beginning to brighten. Just as soon as Sora's name entered my head, however, the terror set back in, and I began crying uncontrollably, my head stuffed underneath a pillow as I wailed.

That had been no dream. That had been, unmistakably, a full-blown nightmare.

A few lights flicked on, and I heard footsteps approaching me. "What's wrong with you?" Sora's voice called over my sobbing.

I froze. He had exactly quoted something he had said to me in my nightmare. How real had that nightmare _been_? Absolutely mortified, I scrambled off of the bed and dove underneath it, putting both arms over my head and burying my face in the carpet. Sora continued saying things, but I couldn't hear him, and only felt the vibrations of his footsteps as he walked away, and more as he came back. "I can't tell what happened, she just lost it!" I heard him say, sounding concerned. I was vaguely aware of the bed being folded back into the couch, and opened my eyes to see Taelia and Cloud standing above me, Sora beside them. I managed to sit up, but couldn't stop shaking.

"Akyra, are you all right?" Cloud asked, staring at me. I shook my head, shuddering, and almost screamed when Taelia reached out to take my hand and lift me off of the floor.

"Can you tell us what happened?" she asked gently, sitting me on the now re-assembled couch. Again, I shook my head no, but then paused. I could at least tell them _something_.

"I-I h-had a n-nightmare," I stuttered. The three sighed and nodded, as if they understood what I meant and were relieved it hadn't been something serious, like a mental breakdown of some sort.

"I'll get you something from the kitchen and be right back," Taelia offered. "Cloud, go back to bed." He nodded, sighing gratefully, and went back to his room. Taelia walked into the kitchen, closing the door behind her, leaving me and Sora alone. I sat on the couch, silent, and he stood a few feet away, shifting his weight from one foot to the other nervously.

"It's just a nightmare, you know. They aren't real," he said, obviously trying to sound reassuring. I nodded slowly, hearing his words but not processing them.

"It doesn't mean they don't scare you."

"I know," he mumbled, "I used to have them all the time when my parents first died. And I cried just like you did." He sat beside me on the couch, and instantly I flinched and moved away, starting to shiver again. "You have to tell yourself that even if you're scared by them, no matter how real they are, you can't let them get to you. Nightmares are the same as dreams--they tell us what we're thinking about most. In the case of nightmares, they tell us what we're most scared of. And you always have to face your fears, am I right?" I nodded, summing up enough courage to look over at him as he spoke to me. "Obviously, you've faced a lot of stress lately, and your mind is probably extremely unsettled by all the anxiety. Just take it in stride and look past it."

But how could I look past the fact that I had just had a nightmare, one that pointed out a fear so real that it could very well come true at any given moment? Was there any way to ignore something so devastatingly true to life? I knew in my heart that I would never kill a person, instinct or otherwise, and that this thought was what had kept me from doing so for eight long years. If I forced myself to hide when I doubted my self control, it would never become stronger. When I was little, I had taught myself, easily, to ignore the blood of any human that crossed my path. Sora's case was increasingly more difficult, but I knew I had to face it nonetheless. And once I did, I'd finally be free.

"Hey, Akyra?" I turned towards Sora as he suddenly spoke again, leaving my own thoughts in an instant. He was a little closer to me now, and as tempted as I was to draw back, I didn't. I could sense his blood in every fiber of my soul, but I took a deep breath so as to keep calm. _It's not what you want,_ I told myself in the exact way I had when I was younger. _You want freedom. This is not what you want._ And, surprisingly enough, I was able to ignore his smell for a few seconds or so. It wasn't long, but it was something.

"Yes, Sora?" I replied, looking him straight in the eye. He seemed thrown off by my sudden confidence, but smiled.

"I was wondering if you were feeling okay. You got quiet for a second there."

I nodded my thanks, grinning back at him. I was glad I had been able to ignore my instincts briefly; I was finally able to smile without fear of my fangs being noticed. They only appeared when I was hungry, which was hardly ever. And now, they were completely non-existent. "Fine for now."

Taelia walked back in carrying a glass of water and a plate with a few pancakes stacked on it. "It's already six in the morning, and Sora has to go to school today, so I made breakfast," she said happily, handing Sora the plate and handing me the glass of water. "Akyra, yours are coming; I made you chocolate chip. Chocolate's sure to help you feel better; it always helps me." She laughed and turned to walk back into the kitchen. Sora groaned and turned on the TV as he absentmindedly ate his pancakes.

"School...what a joke," he muttered. I couldn't help but laugh quietly, and he rolled his eyes at me. "Oh no, please, I don't want your sympathy," he said sarcastically.

"Fine then, you won't get any," I fired back. The both of us were laughing when Roxas walked in, looking like he had fought with a pack of bears overnight. Sora took one look at his twin and laughed so hard he started choking. Roxas hit him in the back of the head, and Sora jokingly kicked him in the shin as he walked by.

"You might wanna run a comb through that rat's nest, Roxy," he called. Roxas stopped mid-step in front of the kitchen door, turned around, and flipped his brother off.

"Call me Roxy again and you'll get far worse than that," he dared, and disappeared into the kitchen.

It took me a few weeks to become as comfortable around Sora as I had been before the dream. And even then, I became a little more easygoing when I was near him. He made me feel stronger, like the fact that I could resist his blood so well empowered me. A self-confidence type thing. He helped open a door in my life that I thought would have been closed forever. For once, I was opening up to people, talking to them and acting as if there was more to life than hiding from it. I finally felt like my life had more to it than secrets and lies, fear and hatred. It had something new. Something I'd never known before.

My life had hope.


End file.
